Africans in U.S. still feel divide among Blacks Continental divide separates Africans, African-Americans
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Africa is not a country, and Africans
generally do not live in trees or hunt game with spears. Nor do they
all walk around in the nude among lions and zebras.
African immigrants to the United States say cartoonish caricatures and
a Western media penchant for reporting on Africa's disease, hunger and
war -- rather than the continent's successes -- trivialize their
cultures. They complain they have trouble dispelling the stereotypes
once they arrive in the States.
They concede, though, the myths run both ways and some say they were
surprised to find their values more often aligned with those of white
Americans than African-Americans.
"I have been laughed at because of my accent and asked all the ignorant
questions," said iReporter Ajah-Aminata N'daw, 25, of Fall River,
Massachusetts. "Questions like: Did I live on a tree? Roam the jungles
naked? Have wild animals at home?"
N'daw emigrated from Dakar, Senegal, in 2001. She works in a
hair-braiding salon and has met African-Americans who share her values
of hard work and family, but in most cases, "we are raised differently,
taught different values and held up to a different moral code."
iReport: Read why N'daw is not African-American
Gaddafi Nkosi, 18, recently graduated from The Piney Woods School, a
historically African-American boarding school about 22 miles southeast
of Jackson, Mississippi. He has since returned to Pretoria, South
Africa, but recalled well the misnomers he faced in the U.S.
"I came down from South Africa and so many people thought that maybe
that's a jungle or maybe I'd go out chasing lions or something like
that," he said. African, black students find common ground at
Mississippi school »
Nkosi's American classmates acknowledge their misconceptions. Cydney
Smith, 17, of Nashville, Tennessee, said she once believed Africa was
populated with "uncivilized tribes."
Raphael Craig, 17, of Hyattsville, Maryland, said the television misinformed him as well.
Before Craig visited the continent in 2005 and 2006, he thought of
Africans as "half-naked, running around with tigers in the jungle,"
Craig said, confessing he was unaware tigers roam only Asia.
But in Ghana and Nigeria, Craig saw children playing the same games he
and his siblings played. He saw many signs of modernity, including
Mercedes and other brands of cars found in the United States.
"OK, this country is running how we're running, just two different
schools," Craig recalled thinking. "It really opened my eyes to the
point that everything you see on TV is not always the actual thing."
If the Western media are doing Africans no favors, then the African
media are also a disservice to African-Americans because it portrays
them as criminals, some immigrants say.
Sandi Litia, 19, a Piney Woods graduate from Limulunga, Zambia, said
she was initially scared of African-Americans because the African media
show them "wearing clothes like gangsters and killing each other."
Nkosi concurred that African media "made it seem as if they were these
aggressive people that did nothing constructive with their lives except
occupy prison space."
Trying to fit in
Chinedu Ezeamuzie, 21, of Athens, Georgia, arrived in 2003. He had
spent the majority of his life in Jabriya, Kuwait, and came to the U.S.
to pursue his education.
The recent Georgia Tech graduate said he considers himself Nigerian
because his parents -- both from the village of Uga -- instilled in
their four children strong Nigerian values of family, community,
spirituality and self-betterment. Test your Africa knowledge with a
quiz »
In Athens, Ezeamuzie found his ideals at odds with those who shared his
skin color at Clarke Central High School, his first stint in a public
school.
On his first day, he donned khakis, a button-down dress shirt and nice
leather shoes. He caught the African-Americans' attention upon stepping
into the cafeteria, he said.
"They give me the look," he said. "Why is this guy dressed like the white folks, like the preppy guys?"
Ezeamuzie didn't understand why so few black students were in his
advanced-placement classes. He didn't understand the de facto lunchroom
segregation or the accusing glances he got for eating with white
classmates. One classmate called him a traitor and asked, "Do you not
like black people?"
"My whole life I had reaped benefits from being in different circles
and bridging them," so he wanted to fit in, he said. iReport: What are
the unique struggles of being African in America?
He found clothes akin to what he saw many African-Americans wearing ---
baggy pants and an oversized T-shirt. He relaxed his British-trained
tongue and tried out for the basketball team, the 6-foot-5 Ezeamuzie
said.
Ezeamuzie recalled finding himself more confused by his experience with
some African-Americans: Why were they so cliquish? Why did they mock
students for being intelligent? Why were they homophobic and bent on
using the n-word? Why did every conversation seem to involve drugs,
girls or materialism?
"They kind of accepted me. They saw me a little differently, but I was thinking this is a very narrow mindset," Ezeamuzie said.
Ezeamuzie and other Africans say they feel African-Americans too often
dwell on slavery and the racism that has persisted for more than a
century since the Emancipation Proclamation.
"We have all been tortured," said iReporter Vera Ezimora, 24, a
Nigerian student living in Baltimore, Maryland. "Now that we are free,
holding on to the sins of white men who have long died and gone to meet
their maker is more torture than anything we have suffered." iReport:
Read about questions Ezimora faced when she came to the U.S.
Values at core of misunderstanding?
Martin Mohammed, president of the U.S. African Chamber of Commerce,
estimates there are 3 million African immigrants in the U.S. -- about
twice the U.S. Census Bureau estimate. He has heard from numerous
immigrants struggling to find commonalities with Americans who share
their skin color.
Mohammed emigrated from Somalia in 1998 and is now naturalized. He
considers himself African-American, but "it does not mean that I have
already assimilated into the culture."
Values and upbringings may lie at the center of the cultures' misunderstanding of each other, he said.
Many Africans come to the U.S. to escape dire conditions such as
poverty or civil war. Their objectives are often advancing their
education or finding good jobs, Mohammed said.
They also strive to reunite their families, or at least support them
back home. Remittances from the U.S. to Africa total about $20 billion
annually, according to the World Bank.
However, African immigrants find that education and good jobs elude
their African-American brethren, and there is a perception that many
African-American men aren't committed to supporting their families,
Mohammed said.
The two cultures have much to teach each other -- especially
politically and economically -- but they must accept they have
something to learn.
"Honestly, what we need to do is realize both cultures are important," Mohammed said.
Myths thrive on ignorance
iReporter Emeka Aniukwu, 35, hails from Ebenebe, Nigeria, and said he
has heard all the American misperceptions about Africa, but the cure to
ignorance is communication.
He began dating Sonya Roberts, 25, of Austin, Texas, shortly after he
arrived in the U.S. four years ago. She taught him about
African-American culture, and he taught her about Nigeria. The two
married last month.
"Talk to people, stop showing ugly face and don't be shy about your
accent," he advised African immigrants. "Most of the media coverage
about Africa is all about hunger, diseases and war, so what do you
expect? People are curious and just want to know, so calm down and
educate them as much as you can." iReport: Read why Aniukwu loves
Africa-Americans
At Piney Woods, where about 35 of the 200 students emigrate from
Africa, the school's president, Reginald Nichols, concurs that
education is integral to understanding.
He's heard Africans say the African-Americans are aggressive, while the
African-Americans accuse Africans of being reserved -- but the more
they mingle the more they mesh, he said.
"You have the African students tell me that they have learned so much
about standing up from the African-American students, and the
African-American students said they've learned how to simmer down, so
it's a wonderful thing," Nichols said.
Mohammed, too, said he'd like to see more African-Americans dispelling
myths about Africa, which is increasingly important as Africans in the
U.S. begin wielding more economic influence.
The chamber estimates African immigrants have about $50 billion in
annual purchasing power. Numbers from the University of Georgia's Selig
Center of Economic Growth indicate the number is just behind the
nation's Native American community, which had $61.8 billion in buying
power last year. The entire African-American market was estimated at
$913 billion and the Hispanic market at $951 billion.
History dictates that economic power precedes political power. Mohammed
said Africans can learn much about politics from African-Americans
because of their "level of influence in Washington."
"I'm also interested to the extent that the black population can play a
role in solving global conflict. We can help these discussions around
the globe, but we must begin here in the U.S.A.," he said.
iReporter Faraji Goredenna, 53, of Layton, Utah, said he encourages
African-Americans to learn more about Africa and lend a hand to
Africans so they know "America's institutions and opportunities are
open to them, too." iReport: Read how Goredenna embraces both cultures
But he'd like a symbiotic relationship, he said, explaining, "We
African-Americans want to learn more about our history and culture as
it exists in Africa, but we have also created a culture for ourselves
here that we ask our brothers and sisters from Africa to respect."
Home 
